Crafting Speculative Images

Overview

Lesson 12 of 30 in Exploring Speculative Perspectives. Students identify and compare metaphors, similes and imagery, then apply these devices to create vivid descriptions of a speculative setting or character.

Learning intentions

Students will:

• Understand how metaphors, similes and imagery shape meaning and mood.
• Identify literary devices in short extracts.
• Explain how word choices influence a reader’s response.
• Use literary devices purposefully in speculative writing.
• Revise writing for precision, originality and effect.

Success criteria

• I can distinguish between a metaphor, a simile and imagery.
• I can explain the effect of a literary device on a reader.
• I can create an original comparison suited to a speculative text.
• I can revise my description to make its mood and meaning clearer.

Curriculum links

• Creating imaginative texts using deliberate language choices, literary devices and genre conventions.
• Analysing how authors use language features to construct setting, character, mood and perspective.
• Planning, drafting, editing and publishing imaginative writing for an intended audience.
• Literacy and critical and creative thinking: interpreting, evaluating and experimenting with language.

Lesson structure (70 minutes)

1. 0–8 minutes – Hook: language that changes a scene Open with the hook image and opening question. Display a stark speculative image, such as an abandoned city beneath a red sky, and ask: “What might this place feel like?” Students silently write three descriptive words, then share with a partner. Collect examples that suggest mood rather than simply naming objects.

2. 8–20 minutes – Explicit teaching and modelling Use the literary devices teaching slides to define and model:

• Simile: a comparison using “like” or “as”.
• Metaphor: a direct comparison stating that one thing is another.
• Imagery: language that helps readers imagine sensory detail, movement, mood or atmosphere. Model a plain sentence—“The station was empty”—and improve it: “The station was as silent as a sealed tomb” and “The station was a sleeping machine, its metal ribs cold beneath the moon.” Briefly discuss how each version changes the reader’s response.

3. 20–32 minutes – Identify and explain Distribute the literary devices identification worksheet. Students work independently for five minutes, identifying devices in short speculative examples. They then compare answers in pairs and explain the effect of two examples, using the frame: “The writer uses ___ to make the reader feel/understand ___.” Review answers as a class, addressing the difference between a comparison and general descriptive language.

4. 32–43 minutes – Collaborative device challenge In five pairs, display the paired challenge instructions. Give each pair one setting prompt, such as a floating settlement, a city after a climate disaster or a planet where night never ends. Pairs create one simile, one metaphor and two sensory images for the prompt. They should avoid familiar comparisons such as “white as snow” and aim for precise, original language. Invite several pairs to read one example aloud.

5. 43–58 minutes – Individual speculative writing Return to the writing task and success criteria. Students write a 120–150 word description of a speculative setting or character from an unfamiliar perspective—for example, a newcomer, survivor, machine or outsider. Require at least one simile, one metaphor and three sensory images. Encourage students to make the language reveal perspective, not merely decorate the writing.

6. 58–66 minutes – Peer response and revision Students exchange drafts with a partner and use the worksheet checklist to identify the three required features. Partners give one specific commendation and one suggestion, focusing on clarity, originality and mood. Students revise at least two sentences, underlining their strongest image and replacing one vague word with a more precise choice.

7. 66–70 minutes – Plenary and exit response Show the plenary prompt. Students complete the sentence: “The most effective device in my writing was ___ because ___.” Invite two students to share revised sentences. Collect worksheets and drafts for assessment.

Resources

• the complete lesson slide deck
• the literary devices identification worksheet
• Whiteboard and markers
• Exercise books or writing paper
• Pens and highlighters
• Timer
• Five setting prompts prepared on the board or displayed

Assessment

• Listen to pair explanations and question students about how each device affects mood, meaning and perspective.
• Check the worksheet for accurate identification and explanation of similes, metaphors and imagery.
• Assess the final description for purposeful use of all three devices, sensory detail, speculative perspective and evidence of revision.

Differentiation

• Provide a word bank of sensory verbs, precise adjectives and abstract nouns; allow students to orally rehearse sentences before writing.
• Offer sentence frames such as “The ___ was like ___ because ___” and “The ___ became a ___” for students requiring additional support.
• For EAL students, pre-teach “comparison”, “literal”, “figurative”, “mood” and “sensory”; pair them with a supportive peer and accept labelled planning before full sentences.
• Extend confident writers by requiring a sustained metaphor, varied sentence structures or a deliberate shift in mood across the paragraph.